Princess Anne, MD

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Anchor Reliance Group (ARG), an unmanned aircraft services provider based in Princess Anne, MD, has joined forces with the Eastern Shore Robotics (ESR) to provide STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education opportunities for high school students on the Maryland and Virginia Eastern Shore.

ESR is a non-profit organization linking several high schools on the Delmarva Peninsula to give students experience with robotics and autonomous systems. 2009 was the first year that ESR sponsored Team 1829 in the FIRST Robotics Challenge, and their robot "Bubbles" was awarded the Xerox Creativity Award for their unique carbon-fiber design, and the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award for inspiring students by exposing them to professional engineers and valuable engineering principles. The Regional Engineering Inspiration Award is the second highest award given at the regional level and qualified Team 1829 for the FIRST Robotics Championship held in Atlanta, GA on 16-18 April - a fantastic showing for their first year in the competition!

Since their founding, ESR has received support from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Wallops Flight Facility, the U.S. Navy, and several local companies. But much more is needed. Bryan Bailey, ARG founder, joined the ESR Board of Directors to bring unmanned aircraft systems technology to the ESR STEM initiative and to help leverage ARG's wide-ranging network for support in the 2010 season. In addition to competing in the 2010 FIRST competitive season, the goal is to stand up a regional, fully-funded Advanced Student Robotics Lab where students from area high schools and universities can get hands-on experience working with autonomous systems while providing valuable research into new and innovative unmanned technologies. "The lab will be sponsored and funded through ESR to keep it independent and accessible to all students regardless of school district affiliation," explains Chris Thompson, ESR's founder and president. "We want this to not only be an excellent after school learning program, but to also provide a place where students can design and build projects to enhance their classroom studies through practical application."

You can learn more about Eastern Shore Robotics and their robot "Bubbles" by visiting their web site at www.esrobot.org or by emailing Chris Thompson at chris@esrobot.org

STEM education for our youth and future leaders is critical, and Anchor Reliance Group is proud to be a part of this worthy endeavor!

For more information about Anchor Reliance Group, contact us at 443-783-6763 or visit our web site at www.anchorreliancegroup.com

Bryan Bailey

Anchor Reliance Group

bryan@anchorreliancegroup.com

Byran Bailey

Owner

Princess Anne, MD

443-783-6763

First Url: Eastern Shore Robotics

Second Url: Anchor Reliance Group